"We're in unchartered territory"

Brian Murphy in the Pioneer Press looks at the state of the golf economy and notes this about sales at Hazeltine this week:

Yet as of Friday, fewer than 500 ticket packages still were available, with free admission to anyone younger than 17, for a tournament that sold out almost two months in advance in 2002, when Hazeltine last hosted the PGA Championship. Corporate hospitality sales are down almost 25 percent, and more corporations this year opted to schmooze clients around less expensive tables and chairs instead of in temperaturecontrolled chalets.

"We're in unchartered territory," acknowledged Shannon Loecher, regional director of sales for the PGA Championship.